The 888poker LIVE Coventry double-header is off to a flying start, with the £560 UK Poker League (UKPL) Main Event crowning its champion over the weekend. Some 224 players bought in, creating a £106,390 prize pool, and Jamie Morris came out on top, capturing £19,831 after a three-way deal, the largest score of his career to date.
Thirty-five of the entrants saw a return on their investment. National Poker League (NPL) Player of the Year contenders Calogero Morreale and Callum Gordon were among the first to cash. 888poker ambassador Nick Eastwood, Tom Bacon, two-time GUKPT champion Christopher Johnson, Mitch Johnson, and final table bubble boy Yucel "Mad Turk" Eminoglu also padded their bankrolls.
| Rank | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jamie Morris | £19,831* |
| 2 | Daniel Scridon | £15,961* |
| 3 | Noam De Frettes | £16,098* |
| 4 | Ben Miller | £7,930 |
| 5 | Jon Glen | £5,480 |
| 6 | Thomas Garment | £4,000 |
| 7 | Mingrui Cen | £3,360 |
| 8 | Anthony Hughes | £2,720 |
| 9 | Andrew Abernathy | £2,340 |
*reflects a three-handed deal
Andrew Abernathy was the first finalist heading to the cashier's desk. His last ten big blinds went into the middle of the felt with pocket sevens flipping against Jon Glen's ace-queen. An ace on the flop spelled disaster for Abernathy, who bowed out in ninth.
Eighth place went to Anthony Hughes, who attempted to steal the blinds from the button with king-jack only for Thomas Garment to shove from the big blind with what turned out to be the dominating king-queen. Hughes called off his 20 big blind stack, couldn't find a jack, and saw his deep run end.
Mingrui Cen has been on something of a heater of late, enjoying many solid results, including a fifth-place finish at the recent WPT Prime UK Main Event. Cen's latest deep run ended in seventh place when his 13 big blind shove with ace-seven ran into the ace-queen of Morris. The board didn't come to Ce's rescue; that was all she wrote.
Thomas Garment, who finished second in the EAPT UK Main High Roller in Nottingham in May, pinned his tournament life to his last 13 big blinds and got them into the middle with pocket seven. Unfortunately for Garment, Daniel Scridon's pocket kings were far superior. The kings held, and Garment was hung out to dry.
A battle of the blinds decided the fifth-place finisher. Glen jammed for 12 big blinds with queen-eight when the action folded to him in the small blind. Ben Miller looked down at ace-jack, and made one of the easier calls of his career. A queen on the flop put Glen ahead, but an ace on the turn ultimately resulted in the best hand preflop being the best hand at showdown.
The final four became three after Miller crashed out. Miller, who finished fourth in the Goliath in July and then second in the UKPL Reading High Roller, was down to less than two big blinds before he busted. He called off his micro stack with queen-six of diamonds after Scridon opened with ace-queen. Morris called with pocket nines, flopped a set, and led out, which folded out Scridon. Miller required running cards which didn't come.
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The remaining three players agreed to a deal that lessened the pay jumps and left £5,011 more for the eventual champion. Noam De Frettes locked in the largest prize, but he crashed out in third. His final action was to shove an unde pair to the board when Morris was sitting waiting with the nut flush.
Heads-up spanned more than two and a half hours, with neither player willing to give up. The final hand occurred during the 150,000/300,000 level, the 296th hand of the final table. Morris shoved with king-queen of spades, and Scridon called off his 2.7 big blinds with queen-seven. A seven on the flop looked to have prolonged the drawn-out battle, but a king on the turn all but concluded the contest. A jack on the river completed the board, busted Scridon, and left Morris to become the 2024 888poker LIVE UKPL Coventry Main Event champion.
888poker LIVE Coventry continues from 1:00 p.m. GMT on October 14 with Day 2 of the £1,100 High Roller. Forty-one players entered, but only nine remain, with Terry Jordon leading the way.
| Date | Time | Entry Fee | Event |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 14 | 13:00 | £1,000+£100 | UKPL High Roller Day 2 |
| Oct 14 | 15:00 | £200+£100+£30 | UKPL The Mega KnockOut |
| Oct 14 | 17:00 | £130+£20 | UKPL Seniors |
| Oct 14 | 20:00 | £111+£9 | 888poker LIVE Main Event Cash Out Turbo Sat |
| Oct 15 | 12:00 | £200+£200+£40 | Mystery Bounty 1A |
| Oct 15 | 15:00 | £300+£30 | The Big Shot |
| Oct 15 | 20:00 | £200+£200+£40 | Mystery Bounty 1B - Turbo |
| Oct 15 | 20:00 | £111+£9 | 888poker LIVE Main Event Cash Out Turbo Sat |
| Oct 16 | 12:00 | £800+£88 | 888poker LIVE Main Event Day 1A |
| Oct 16 | 14:00 | £200+£200+£40 | Mystery Bounty Day 2 |
| Oct 16 | 15:00 | £1,888+£112 | High Roller Day 1 |
| Oct 16 | 18:00 | £180+£20 | The Rumble Turbo |
| Oct 16 | 20:00 | £111+£9 | 888poker LIVE Main Event Cash Out Turbo Sat |
| Oct 17 | 12:00 | £1,888+£112 | High Roller Day 2 |
| Oct 17 | 13:00 | £800+£88 | 888poker LIVE Main Event Day 1B |
| Oct 17 | 17:00 | £220+£30 | The Mayhem |
| Oct 17 | 18:00 | £100+£10 | 888poker LIVE Main Event Cash Out Turbo Sat |
| Oct 17 | 21:00 | £800+£88 | 888poker LIVE Main Event Day 1C Turbo |
| Oct 18 | 12:00 | £800+£88 | 888poker LIVE Main Event Day 1D |
| Oct 18 | 20:00 | £800+£88 | 888poker LIVE Main Event Day 1E Turbo |
| Oct 18 | 21:00 | £100+£10 | 888poker LIVE Main Event Cash Out Turbo Sat |
| Oct 19 | 11:00 | £800+£88 | 888poker LIVE Main Event Day 1F Turbo |
| Oct 19 | 17:00 | £800+£88 | 888poker LIVE Main Event Day 2 |
| Oct 19 | 17:00 | £500+£50 | The Dragon Day 1 |
| Oct 19 | 18:00 | £150+£150+£30 | PLO 4/5/6 Bounty |
| Oct 20 | 13:00 | £800+£88 | 888poker LIVE Main Event Day 3 |
| Oct 20 | 13:00 | £500+£50 | The Dragon Day 2 |
| Oct 20 | 17:00 | £220+£30 | Beat the Ambassadors |
| Oct 20 | 19:00 | £180+£20 | 888poker LIVE Closer |
